Four weeks into the Major League Soccer season, the Eastern Conference standings are dotted with
familiar teams in unusual places.

Three teams that reached the 2012 playoffs — D.C. United, New York and Chicago — are on the
outside looking in, while Montreal’s 4-0 start had the Impact atop the standings entering the
weekend as the early surprise story.

But as two-time defending MLS Cup champion Los Angeles showed last season, a team’s start does
not necessarily forecast its finish. A 2-1 loss to Houston on May 26 dropped the Galaxy’s record to
3-8-2 and marked the team’s seventh straight winless game.

Although that left the Galaxy in last place in the Western Conference with 11 points, it would
finish fourth in the standings and run through the playoffs to the title.

“I think the most important thing is just to finish well,” Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven said. “
Obviously, you don’t want to get too far behind early in the season because then you’re going to be
trying to play catch-up later. It’s all about hitting your peak at the right time. I think you’ve
seen that over the past few years where a team gets hot toward the end of the year, they get in the
playoffs and they make it all the way to the finals.”

At the same time, a torrid late-season stretch was not enough to help the Crew reach the
playoffs for what would have been a fifth consecutive season. Throughout the offseason, coach
Robert Warzycha consistently mentioned his team’s 2-4-2 start as having been crippling.

“I’ve always said three points now count just as much as three points at the end of the season,
so whenever you can get them is a good time,” defender Chad Marshall said. “Just because you have a
good start doesn’t mean you’re going to finish that way, and vice versa.”

Gaven and Marshall pointed to a number of reasons that midseason turnarounds are common, from
increased parity within the league to its slate of 34 regular-season games. The Crew’s fortunes
improved last season after forwards Jairo Arrieta and Federico Higuain joined the team.

“It’s just about finding your form at the right time,” Gaven said. “There’s 34 games in a
season, so you’re not going to make the playoffs after the first four games. Obviously, it’s a very
long season, so there’s plenty of time for teams who didn’t have the best start to make up some
ground later on.”

Still, given the choice, Warzycha said all teams would prefer a fast start.

“Even if someone says they don’t, everyone is looking at the standings,” he said. “That gives
you some confidence. It’s obviously good to win the games at the beginning of the season, because
you have confidence and your team has confidence and you don’t have to juggle the lineup and ask
yourself what you’re doing wrong.”

As for the Impact, the Crew (2-1-1) will get a firsthand look when it travels to Stade Saputo on
April 13.

“Every team has their downs and ups during a very long season, but right now they’re obviously
playing well,” Gaven said. “We play them in two weeks, and hopefully we can knock them off their
high horse a little bit.”